Smart Energy

Echelon’s New COS Apps Put Big Data to Work One App at a Time

Today, Echelon announced the beta availability of three new Echelon COS Apps for Transformer Protection, Service Quality Assurance and Revenue Assurance. These apps run on Echelon’s Edge Control Node at distribution transformers and use local intelligence to help utilities monitor the health of transformers, rapidly detect and respond to outages, and identify technical and commercial losses in the low voltage network. 
 
This is big news for big data.  “Everybody's talking about Big Data today, but far too often in a general sense. What are the real-world, fast-payback applications of Big Data? I think two of the best places to start are 1) asset health and management and 2) theft and tamper detection. And here's Echelon with news of ready-to-run applications in those very domains.” said Jesse Berst at Smart Grid News (read full story here). 
 
And, according to Varun Nagaraj, Echelon’s Sr. VP of Product Management and Marketing who was recently quoted by Greentech Media,  there is one more compelling point for Apps:  “For the utility that doesn’t want to invest in multi-million-dollar AMI projects, Echelon’s new smart grid apps can provide a faster, more modular approach to providing the same kind of functionality. That’s particularly important for meeting the needs of smaller utilities who can’t afford the upfront investment, or the ongoing IT support, to manage a full-blown back-end software application,” (read full story here).
 
Want to hear the full story on COS Apps? Download the slides from our  webcast “A Blueprint for Grid Modernization” where we were joined by NRGi – a leading Danish utility and Echelon customer. Or, check out the press release today!

ConnectEx Launches BACNet Interface for the SmartServer

“The BACnet interface for Echelon's i.LON SmartServer by ConnectEx addresses a very real need in the industry. Seasoned buildings professionals know that they live in a world of multiple standards such as LonWorks, BACnet, KNX, etc. Having the tools to bridge between these various standards is a must, and that is what ConnectEx has delivered," according to Varun Nagaraj, Senior VP, Product Management and Product Marketing at Echelon.  Download a demo version and see how this exciting combinations opens new worlds of opportunity.

How One Smart Meter Deployment Covered the Largest Country in the World

Imagine all the challenges you face modernizing your electricity grid. Now, imagine the same task, but across the largest country in the world where temperatures can dip to -55C. This was the challenge faced by Russian Railways. With their electrical grid stretching across the forest tundra in Siberia, mountain ranges in the south, and rolling hills and plains in between, Russian Railway’s deployment promised to be one of the most challenging efforts to date.

See how Russian Railway faced all these challenges to a successful deployment.